January 29, 2009
Geothermal Market Update: Steady Growth in 2009
by Charles W. Thurston, Correspondent
California, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]
The geothermal power development sector is waiting to hear an industry-specific investment allocation under President Obama's plan to increase renewable energy, but at least one recent assessment, attributed to an Obama aide, has already indicated that geothermal and solar together could be funded to add 4,000 megawatts (MW) of new energy capacity, the Geothermal Energy Association, in Washington, recently reported. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management says that a
dozen Western states could generate 5,500 MW of geothermal energy from 110
plants by 2015, and that number could rise by another 6,600 MW by 2025.
"Clearly renewable energy now is a strong buzz word in the Obama
administration, and geothermal is playing a strong role in that. The draft
economic stimulus package apparently has something like US $440 million
set aside for geothermal projects. So the outlook is fairly positive, but
it is funding dependent," says Richard Putnam, the treasurer of
Provo-based Raser
Technologies.
Potential Generation Estimates Over 100 confirmed and unconfirmed geothermal projects alone could add 4,000 MW of power capacity within a few years time, according to the latest survey by the GEA. A new survey, which should incorporate more projects inspired by the renewal of federal tax incentives, should be ready by February or March, according to Karl Gawell, the executive director of the association. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management says that a dozen Western states could generate 5,500 MW of geothermal energy from 110 plants by 2015, and that number could rise by another 6,600 MW by 2025, the agency reckons. One good sign from the outgoing Bush administration is that the federal government is sharing geothermal land lease revenues with states and county governments, which may inspire more government-owned or public-private partnership geothermal projects. The GEA said that states received some US $27 million over the last two years and that counties received $9 million last year. The GEA also reported that BLM this year plans to open 111 million acres for geothermal leasing, along with 79 million acres in National Forests. Apart from these predictions, the development of enhanced geothermal resources, or EGS, requiring the pumping of water into hot dry rock formations, could add 100,000 MW of power, according to a 2008 Massachusetts Institute of Technology study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy. DOE has since awarded US $3.4 million to Ormat Technologies, of Reno, to demonstrate the viability of EGS. Recent Project Announcements A host of new project announcements in the United States and abroad
have surfaced in the past few months.
Nevada Geothermal Power's NGP Blue Mountain unit has contracted Ormat
Technologies to put a 49.5-MW geothermal power plant at Blue Mountain
online by December 2009 with power sold to
Nevada Power
Co. under a 20-year PPA. Elsewhere in Nevada, Italy's
Enel has
nearly completed two geothermal power plants with a combined capacity of
65 MW in Churchill County. New Utility, Government Players Emerge Among utilities that are charting geothermal reserve potential is
Pineville, LA-based
Cleco Corp.'s
Cleco Power LLC. Cleco has forged a research and development agreement
with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Engineer Research & Development
Center to confirm the potential for geothermal energy in Cleco's operating
region, which is in various different regions of Louisiana. Since the financial services market crash, geothermal developers have scrambled to secure new lines of funding, since the list of projects under development now is expected to require close to US $10 billion within a few years' time. Vancouver's
Magma
Energy Corp., for example, recently raised US $26 million through a
share offer to fund new projects and the expansion of its Fallon unit to
16 MW. And Raser Technologies has hired Calyon Securities (USA) Inc. to
explore potential strategic relationships. Non-U.S. Projects Abound Outside of the United States, the Philippines' Energy Development Corp. plans to become the largest producer of geothermal energy should it win its bids for the Tongonan and Palimpinon plants and others the government is seeking to add. Chevron Corp. is currently the largest producer in the world with 1,273 MW of geothermal energy, primarily located in the Philippines and Indonesia. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Mitsubishi Materials and J-Power are planning a US $434 million geothermal power plant in Yuzawa, in the country's northern Akita Prefecture. In India, Tata Power is considering one or more geothermal plants in Gujarat, through a joint venture with the government. Similarly, in Argentina, Copper King Mining Corp., together with
Fellows Energy Ltd. recently announced plans to finance the Valle del Cura
and Tuzgle-Tocomar geothermal projects, with a combined 300-MW capacity in
the Andes region of Argentina. To subscribe or visit go to: http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com |